Sharing Childhood Inspiration

Website Update: Minutes Before Sunset is falling behind on Goodreads Book of the Month. Please vote if you haven’t already. I could really use your help! Vote here. 

As writers, we’ve held the dream of writing for a long time. Finding out an author started writing at a very young age happens more often than not, and I think that’s something important to look into. It’s interesting to think that we, as children, may have understood our passion better than we do now (or with less questioning, because we didn’t understand everything we’d have to go through in order to chase our dreams.) But, theoretically, can’t we bring back our passion in moments of doubt by returning to our childhood in order to remember the simple joy we felt before the pressures of a career?

On Father’s Day, my brother and his fiancé were looking for pictures to use in their wedding, and my dad decided to bring up two boxes my late mother left behind. She made these boxes for my brother and I for when we had kids, but we decided to open them up early for my brother’s wedding, and it was an amazingly beautiful collection of childhood clothes, art, and pictures.

That’s when I found it:

Two books I wrote as a child, which were printed by Crabapple Crossing Book Publishing. 

I wanted to share one today, because it brought me back to those moments before I even knew what publishing was, and I hope sharing something I wrote when I was in second grade might encourage you to look back and see how far you’ve come!

So “Max & Milo” is about two dogs having a birthday party before they move away and become pen pals with all of their old friends. I found it pretty amusing (but interesting) because I had two dogs at the time (yes, they were named Max and Milo) and I also moved around a lot. Strangely enough, this follows the “Write what you know” tip that’s very common for beginning writers. I wish I could say I understood the “Show. Don’t Tell” rule at this age, but I think most of this was described through the pictures I drew. And, no, I’ve never been an artist, so the drawings amused me. (Apparently, the world was in x-ray vision.)

But what is the most encouraging part about looking back on these things? 

I’ve achieved the dream I’ve strived for since I was seven, and I continue to do better every day. 

It was a great experience shifting through my childhood box to see what I could find that my memory didn’t remember as clearly as I thought. Not to mention how funny it was for my brother and I to compare things with one another.

Here’s to hoping this childhood post brings inspiration for other writers to look back on their goals, dreams, and creations to see how long the passion has been there, continue forward with encouragement, and/or to simply be amused by the lessons of life.

My plan is to continue posting writing tips this week, but my cousin is getting married! (Yay!) So I might get busier than I think. I will surely keep everyone updated, and I wanted to remind everyone to vote for Minutes Before Sunset as Book of the Month on Goodreads. We’re still in first place (Thank you!) at 46 votes, but I’d love to hit 50 (those number marks always make me spin in circles of happiness.)

Vote here, and thank you for all the special birthday wishes! I had a great time. I went to a Japanese Steakhouse with my brother, his fiancé, my dad, and my boyfriend. It was a lot of fun, and the picture is a rice heart with “22” written on top for me. It was sweet. They also gave me chopsticks, and I got to see my friends afterwards. Couldn’t have been happier with all the supportive people in my life 😀

~SAT

June 28: Last Day to Vote

July 1: Winners

July 3: Holidays in Writing